394 BRITISH FERNS 



LXVI 



PULCHERRIMUM (Woll.) 



Mrs. Agar Thompson. S. Devon. 1863. 



2 ft. 3 in. 



Clearly the fairies have been at work here ! This variety is con- 

 sidered to be a step beyond plumosum. It was first found in N. 

 Devon by Mr. Padley and by the late Mr. C. Jackson ; after- 

 wards in S. Devon by Mrs. Agar Thompson and by Mr. J. Smith 

 (then gardener to Mr. Padley), and in many instances by Mr. 

 Moly and Mr. Wills in the border-land of Devon, Somerset, and 

 Dorset. 



Mr. Moly distinguishes between the permanently symmetrical 

 varieties (of which he has been the much-envied discoverer of 

 three, and Mr. Wills and Mr. Smith of one each) and the non- 

 permanent or intermittent forms of which he has found six and 

 Mr. Wills two (Mr. Padley and Mr. Thompson's plants were also 

 intermittent). Mr. Moly has also found two of a class called by 

 Mr. Wollaston caudiculato-cristatum, in which the minute extremi- 

 ties show signs of cresting. 



The sub-permanent forms are apt to revert very curiously. 

 Occasionally the whole plant, sometimes a frond or two, or only 

 a portion of a frond is normal. The marked character of this 

 variety is the excessive and peculiar development of the posterior 

 pinnules. It is believed to be barren, at least in such portions as 

 show the true character. 



Mr. Wills's permanently symmetrical form differs from all others 

 in its fine robust foliose character and in being proliferous. With 

 relation to these forms Mr. Moly graphically writes : "I found 

 the first in 1862, and on the same day I found another of which (as 

 the first was a far better specimen) I contented m3'self with taking 

 only a frond, but on cogitation at home I saw so much beauty in 

 it that a week or two afterwards I railed again to the town, and 

 on reaching the spot my nerves received such a shock on per- 

 ceiving that the Vandals had removed all the soil from the hedge 

 where I had left it ! Every year since I have made a pilgrimage 

 to the neighbourhood in the hope of securing a specimen (for the 

 original plant I had sent to Mr. Wollaston and it had died); my 

 efforts were, however, unrewarded until the summer of 1876, when 

 I found the one I now possess." 



